Earning a reputation as one of the most prolific
buffalo
hunters in the
American
West, Nixon once shot 120
buffalo in just 40 minutes in 1873, an event
that was witnessed by a crowd he brought from town and positioned on a hill
to watch. That same year, he set a record for having killed over 3,200
buffalo
in just 35 days.

By
1880, the
buffalo were not as prevalent and Nixon turned to freighting, in charge of Charles Rath’s bull trains. Often loaded down with thousands of
pounds of
buffalo bones, Rath’s hide yards in
Dodge were now filled with huge
piles of bleached bones rather than
buffalo hides.

In
the spring of 1883,
Dodge City was
embroiled in the so-called
Dodge City War,
a dispute between
saloon owners who were friends of
Dodge City's
former Mayor, Alonzo
B. Webster, and
Luke Short, owner of the
Long Branch
Saloon. In the midst of
this dispute was Tom Nixon, who was one of Webster's supporters and by that
time owned his own
saloon, called the Lady Gay.
While he was mayor, Webster passed ordinances that protected his own two
saloons and
those of his friends, while establishing rules restricting competing
saloons and
levying taxes upon them. Nixon led a
vigilante
group to "force" Webster's rules and to run competing
saloon owners
out of town.

When
Luke Short pulled in several of his
friends to support him in the
Dodge City War,
including Bat Masterson
and
Wyatt Earp, the show of force caused
Short's enemies
to back down and violence was avoided. Though the
Dodge City War
had ended without gunfire and the city breathed a sigh of relief, the
saloon
dispute had not ended. Ironically, after having won his battle,
Luke Short moved
on to
Texas. But, in his wake, the disputes continued.

Mather, in the
meantime had established his own saloon called the Opera House
Saloon and planned to make it a dance hall. However, because of its prominent
downtown location, the city council objected to
Mather's decision and soon
passed an ordinance banning all dance houses. Ironically, the ordinance
restricted all the
saloons in town except for Tom Nixon’s Lady Gay. For months,
Nixon and Mather battled to put each other out of business. In 1884, the city
government replaced
Mysterious Dave with Tom Nixon as the Assistant Marshal, and the feud that
had been brewing for several months came to a head. Mather's resentment toward
Nixon obviously grew.

In the meantime, Nixon was collecting $100 per
month as the assistant marshal under Bill Tilghman. The lawmens' wages were
paid by collecting license fees from the city’s gamblers, prostitutes, madams
and pimps. The Lady Gay was the only dance hall left in town and Webster
was profiting from his own
saloons, while controlling the action and profits in
the city.

Though it was
Mather who was most resentful,
tension for Tom Nixon evidently came to a boil on the night of July 18, 1884. As
Mather was standing on the front steps of the Opera House
Saloon, Nixon took a
shot at him. Although
Mather's face was powder burned and his left hand injured
by flying splinters, he did not return the fire and refused to press charges.
Evidently, he had his own plans for handling the affair.

Three nights later, on July 21st, Tom Nixon
was standing at the corner of First Avenue and Front Street in front of the
Opera House about 10 p.m. When Nixon heard a voice calling out to him from
behind, he turned to see
Mather pointing a Colt .45 at him. Within seconds,
Nixon took four bullets, one piercing his heart, and he was dead before he hit
the ground.

Mather then surrendered himself to
authorities and though witnesses said that Nixon never drew his pistol,
Mather
was acquitted for self-defense. Later,
Mather was heard to say, "I ought to have killed him six months ago."

After the trial,
Mather remained in
Dodge
until the following year. On May 10, 1885, however; he and his brother Josiah
were involved in a gunfight at the Junction
Saloon. One man was killed and
several were wounded, including
Mather, whose head was grazed by a bullet. Both
Dave and his brother Josiah were arrested but soon made bail and left town.